BRAIN Lab - Brain Research and Imaging for Neurorehabilitation

09/15/2026

Lab Social! 🎉

🍂 End of summer, start of a new semester at the lab!
This week we said a warm goodbye to our amazing summer students and visiting scholars from Türkiye —Rukiye Karakis and Kali gurkahraman – thank you for your energy, curiosity, and hard work this summer. We can’t wait to see where you go next. And we’re thrilled to welcome new students joining us this fall!

Looking at this photo, it’s wild to see how much has changed — the kids have grown so much, we’ll soon be welcoming a new little one to the lab family, and yes, a certain teenager has officially entered her “no more pictures please” era. 😄

Grateful for this community — the neuroscience, my long-term collaborator Georgios Mitsis, and the people who make it all worthwhile. Souvenir of a gorgeous fall evening in Montreal!

08/16/2026

🎉 Congratulations to Monserrat Casado Sánchez on the publication of her first paper as 1st author! The study set out to uncover what's happening in the brain behind two of the most common — and most debilitating — Long COVID (LC) symptoms: fatigue and brain fog. Using EEG, she compared brain activity in people with LC (all reporting fatigue, brain fog, and post-exertional malaise) with that of matched controls, examining oscillatory activity both at rest and during sustained handgrip tasks.

Two key findings stood out: a reduced post-movement beta rebound in the somatomotor cortex, which was associated with cognitive symptoms, and a slower resting sensorimotor alpha frequency, which was associated with fatigue. Together, these point to a disrupted excitatory/inhibitory balance in the sensorimotor cortex as a possible mechanism underlying LC symptoms — offering some of the first mechanistic clues as to why fatigue and brain fog persist for so many people after a COVID-19 infection.

A fantastic first contribution to a field that badly needs answers. Congratulations, Monserrat!

Long COVID (LC) affects 10–20% of individuals following SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by symptoms that persist beyond 12 weeks [1,3,105], including fatigue, cognitive dysfunction (“brain fog”), and post-exertional malaise (PEM) [24,64,67,103]. PEM, a hallmark of LC, involves symptom exa...

07/11/2026

Here is a preprint of our latest work on the Spatiotemporal Propagation of Sensorimotor Beta Bursts Across Adulthood, with Siyu Long, who recently graduated from the lab, as the first author.

Beta activity (13–30 Hz) is a prominent feature of motor control, widely distributed across the cerebral cortex. However, how beta bursts (transient high-amplitude events) propagate along cortical organizational axes, such as the posterior-anterior gradient that coordinates cortical structure and ...

07/11/2026

It is such an honour to welcome Lama Albaba, recipient of a prestigious Boursiers McCall MacBain Scholars in our lab as part of her MSc in rehabilitation at the McGill School of Physical and Occupational Therapy at McGill Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences!

Congratulations Lama, well deserved!

07/11/2026

🎓✨ Congratulations, Dr. Siyu Long!
We are very proud to celebrate Siyu Long, who defended with success his thesis entitled: Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Beta Bursts in Human Motor Control: Hemodynamic Correlates, Cortical Propagation, and Cross-Frequency Interactions Across Adulthood. 🎉
His hard work, dedication, and extensive research have greatly contributed to our lab’s mission.💡🧠
We wish him all the best in this next chapter and can’t wait to see all the incredible things he will accomplish in the future! 🌟


Here is a preprint of his most recent work: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.22.720126
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🎓✨ Félicitations au Dr. Siyu Long !
Nous sommes très fiers de célébrer Siyu Long, qui a défendu avec succès sa thèse sur les beta bursts! 🎉
Son travail exceptionnel, sa détermination et ses recherches novatrices ont contribué de manière remarquable à la mission de notre laboratoire. 💡🧠
Nous lui souhaitons beaucoup de succès pour la suite de sa carrière ! 🌟

University

07/11/2026

𝘛𝘩𝘦́𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦: 𝘐𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘶𝘮 𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘦́𝘳𝘦́𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 : 𝘥𝘦 𝘭𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦́𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢̀ 𝘭𝘢 𝘳𝘦́𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘦́𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

J'ai eu le privilège de présenter mes travaux dans le cadre du Symposium organisé par le 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗲́𝗿𝗲́𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 de Hallym University, South Korea pour la 3e édition de la Semaine internationale du RLRC en compagnie du Pre Claudine Auger (CRIR-IURDPM).

🌟Un grand merci à nos hôtes et aux personnes participantes pour leur accueil chaleureux et la richesse des échanges. De Hallym University, South Korea: Prof In cheol Jeong (directeur RLRC), Prof Ga-Young CHOI, Prof Semin Ryu; De John Hopkins University: Prof Junghoon Lee.

What an inspirational way to revolutionalize the trajectory of care for cardio-vascular disease. Very fortunate to collaborate with this amazing team!

07/09/2026

Nous sommes toujours en recrutement pour notre projet long COVID au The Neuro de McGill. Contactez-nous pour plus d’information!

05/11/2026

On April 8th, our very own Guofeng Ye presented at the 2026 Network for Réseau québécois de recherche sur le vieillissement - RQRV Scientific Days at the Université de Sherbrooke!

Her work explores how we can use brain stimulation to better support movement. Her presentation, on the “Effects of brain stimulation on movement-related beta oscillatory patterns in young and older adults” raised the question: Can brain stimulation modulate movement-related brain patterns in older adults differently than in younger adults?

Congratulations, Guofeng! 🎉

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Le 8 avril, notre propre Guofeng Ye a présenté lors de la Journée scientifique 2026 du Réseau québécois de recherche sur le vieillissement (RQRV) à l'Université de Sherbrooke!

Son travail explore comment la stimulation cérébrale peut mieux soutenir le mouvement. Sa présentation, intitulée « Effects of brain stimulation on movement-related beta oscillatory patterns in young and older adults », a soulevé la question: la stimulation cérébrale peut-elle moduler les patrons cérébraux liés au mouvement différemment chez les adultes plus âgés que chez les jeunes adultes?

Félicitations, Guofeng! 🎉

05/09/2026

Nous recrutons toujours (été & automne 2026) dans le cadre d'une étude visant à rééduquer le bras atteint après un AVC en stimulant la langue.

Contactez-nous pour plus de détails.
514-398-5457

05/04/2026

Le 31 mars dernier a eu lieu la toute première édition des Journées scientifiques du Réseau santé numérique à l'Université Laval, et nous étions fiers d'en faire partie ! 🧠 Rassemblant chercheurs, partenaires, étudiants et praticiens du terrain pour explorer comment les données et les technologies numériques transforment les systèmes de santé, cet événement inaugural a lancé exactement les conversations dont notre domaine a besoin.

Notre chercheuse principale, Marie-Hélène Boudrias, a participé à un panel sur l'accès aux données aux côtés de Pierre-Luc Déziel, Laurence Gagnon, Alice Dragomir et Daniel Tremblay-Sher, modéré par Philippe Després, qui abordait des questions cruciales façonnant l'avenir de la recherche dans ce domaine.

Merci au RSN pour cet événement remarquable ; nous espérons que ce n'est que le début!
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On March 31st, the very first Scientific Days of the Réseau santé numérique took place at Laval University, and we were proud to be part of it! Bringing together researchers, partners, students, and field practitioners to explore how data and digital technology are transforming healthcare systems, this inaugural event sparked exactly the kinds of conversations our field needs.

Our Principal Investigator, Marie-Hélène Boudrias, participated in a panel on data access alongside Pierre-Luc Déziel, Laurence Gagnon, Alice Dragomir , and Daniel Tremblay-Sher, moderated by Philippe Després, which dove into some of the most critical questions shaping the future of research.

Thank you to the Réseau santé numérique for a fantastic event. We hope it's the first of many to come!